I'm Not Afraid Anymore
by WriterFreak001
Summary: Post 2x10. Starts immediately after the ending scene of 2x10. Walter re-evaluates his relationship / friendship with Paige as he seeks comfort in her.


**WriterFreak001:**

I _promise_ to update "Kill Switch" and "Poaching" very soon, but I wanted to post this one-shot as soon as possible because it is a snip-it of what could have happened after Walter shared his story of Megan at the end of 2x10.

Please enjoy!

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 **Title** | I'm Not Afraid Anymore

 **Fandom** | _Scorpion_ (CBS)

 **Description** | Post 2x10. Starts immediately after the ending scene of 2x10. Walter re-evaluates his relationship / friendship with Paige as he seeks comfort in her.

 **Rating** | This fanfiction will be rated T.

 **POV** | Limited Third Person

 **Disclaimer** | While CBS owns _**Scorpion**_ , I am the owner of this masterpiece.

 **Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something _should_ be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

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 **I'm Not Afraid Anymore**

 **Written by WriterFreak001**

 **One-Shot**

 **~ S** **CORPION ~**

Walter never stopped holding Paige's hand as he told everyone his favorite memory of his sister. He was sure everyone noticed, but he – at this point – was too exhausted to care. He didn't really understand it, but holding her hand and having her close to him gave him the strength to reach out to his parents… to connect with them through his memories of Megan. Paige reminded him that Megan wasn't the only family he had left, and she was right. His parents had lost Megan too….

Despite everything, Sean and Louise O'Brien were still his parents, and for Megan's sake, he was going to _try_ to connect with them. It was the least he could do… since he couldn't save her in time….

…At least he had Paige now….

"Well," his mother approached him and gave him a small smile as she gently caressed his cheek. "We best be goin' now." She spotted the way Walter's hand was still curled over Paige's before sharing a soft glance with the young woman. "It was lovely meetin' you, Paige."

A little grin found its way to Paige's lips, but she wasn't sure if it was because of Louise's kind farewell or if it was because of Walter's hand suddenly giving hers a gentle squeeze, "It was nice to meet you, too, Louise."

With one last sad glance towards her son, Louise stepped away from the genius and the liaison and slowly approached Cabe as Sean started making his way towards them. Paige automatically leaned closer to Walter and laced her fingers together with his before bringing his palm to her lips. Walter gazed at her as Paige brought their conjoined hands to her lap before turning towards his father.

Sean sent a quick glance towards Paige and then noticed the way she was holding his son's hand before bringing his attention towards Walter. "What y'did today… savin' all those people…," he paused and shoved his hands into his pockets as he gave his son a tiny smile, "I'm proud o'you, Walter." He then touched Walter's shoulder before adding, "You've grown up into a fine man."

Walter pursed his lips, unsure what to say or do. He had spent years as an adolescent trying to make his father proud of him and failed miserably. Hearing his father openly admit how proud he was of him was not something Walter ever expected, and it threw him completely off guard. He didn't know how he should feel…, and he wasn't sure how to process it so he said nothing and did nothing.

Sean muttered an awkward "okay" before turning towards the door.

Paige suddenly bumped Walter's arm with her elbow, and he instantly knew he did something wrong. Almost instantly, he released Paige's hand, slid off of the table, and called out for his father. Sean spun around, and Walter, with hands also shoved into his pockets, awkwardly stared at the ground and said, "Um… Thank you for today…," Walter mumbled quietly and then looked up into his father's eyes. "Thank you for giving up time with Megan to make that announcement over the intercom system. Those, um," Walter scratched the side of his face, "Those people would not be home right now with their families if it wasn't for your, uh, your sacrifice."

Sean smiled lightly and touched Walter's shoulder again. "You've changed, Walter."

"I, uh," Walter ran his hand through his curls and quickly found himself grinning as he spotted Paige slowly escorting a sleepy Ralph up the stairs, "I owe it all to _them_."

Sean noticed the way his son was looking at the mother and son and knew instantly that Walter was smitten with the woman. No _wonder_ , he mused. "They're a fine lookin' bunch." He couldn't help himself. "Are you and th'woman together?"

 _That_ caught Walter's attention. "N-no," he stammered. "We're just… we're just friends." Sean raised an eyebrow, and Walter cleared his throat. "Anyway, it's been a long, eventful day. You and Mom should get some decent rest."

"Perhaps you're right," Sean muttered as Louise came up from behind him and hooked her arm around his. "We'll be seein' you, son."

As his parents turned to leave, Walter found himself saying, "Maybe," he paused as they turned to look at him, "Maybe next, uh, next spring, I can… I can come for a visit and… um… and fix your tractor and, um, show you the most efficient route to plow the fields to cut back on time and save you fuel."

His parents smiled at him as his father said, "I'd like that."

Walter tried to suppress the small smile forming on his lips as his parents turned back around and headed for the door. He watched them walk away and felt Paige's presence as everyone else followed his parents out the door. Then, out of nowhere, he turned to Paige, who was standing directly behind him, and asked, "That wasn't weird, was it? Me asking my parents to visit them?"

"No," Paige laughed and crossed her arms in front of her. "It wasn't weird at all. It was sweet and…," she lightly touched his arm, "very evolved of you."

"I think…," Walter pursed his lips and looked away from the woman, "I think it was what Megan would have wanted…. She was always encouraging me to contact them… to tell them how I was doing…, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Now I guess I wish I had…," he found Paige's eyes and quietly added, "For her sake, you know?"

"You had your reasons for not calling them or contacting them in the past," Paige squeezed his arm. "But I think," she took his hands in hers, "trying to connect with your parents today is definitely a start, and…," she squeezed his palms, "I know you might think this sounds crazy, but… I think Megan would be happy to know that you're trying."

Walter's quiet response surprised Paige. "You really think so?"

She brought his palm to her lips and smiled. "I do." An awkward silence passed between them before Paige added, "It's getting late…. I should probably wake up Ralph and get him home. He's had a pretty long day, too."

"He was great today," Walter found himself squeezing her hands. " _Both_ of you… were great today."

"Noooo," Paige laughed as she shook her head, "I just followed you around and did what you told me to do."

"It was your idea that enabled us to cure everyone, Paige." Walter was now rubbing his thumbs over her knuckles. "Don't sell yourself short," he lightly grinned. "You're more amazing than you think."

A small smile colored her lips as she gently squeezed his palms again and gazed into his deep brown eyes. "You're pretty amazing too." And just as they both noticed how close they were standing, Walter closed the distance between them and crashed his lips into hers. Automatically, she threaded her fingers through his curly hair and leaned into him as they kissed passionately.

Paige, by tugging on his collar as she continued to kiss him, mindlessly pulled Walter towards the red sofa and brought him down with her as she fell backwards onto the cushions. She instinctively latched her fingers together behind his neck and curled her legs around him while Walter continued kissing her hard on the mouth. Paige pulled at the hem of his shirt and slowly guided the cotton material off of him before wildly running her palms over his shoulder blades. He desperately wanted to feel more of her soft skin against him, but as he crept up her white shirt and revealed her white, lacy bra, a small voice from upstairs sounded throughout the garage, bringing both the genius and the liaison back to reality.

"You should, um," Walter climbed off of the woman and picked up his shirt, "You should see what Ralph wants."

"O-Of course." Paige almost squeaked as she lowered her shirt and rose to her feet. "He must be thirsty." As she awkwardly hurried for the stairs, Walter followed but remained silent. He didn't know what came over him; one moment, they were talking and maintaining a professional distance. The next, he was all over her, needing to feel her skin against his… needing to touch her… kiss her…. He knew it was something he shouldn't have done… something he shouldn't have encouraged, but he couldn't stop himself. He didn't want to.

He quietly watched Paige tend to her son, and though he knew Paige had wanted to take Ralph home for the night, he found himself approaching her and saying, "If you're too tired to take Ralph home for the night," Walter bit his lip and scratched his temple, "then why don't the two of you stay here? I'll, uh, I can sleep downstairs, and you and Ralph can have my bed for the night."

"That's really sweet of you," Paige smiled and squeezed the man's hand, "but you shouldn't have to give up your bed, Walter."

"I insist." Walter folded his arms and gazed into her eyes.

Paige glanced at her already sleeping son and whispered, "I think Ralph is pretty content where he is."

"Then you use my bed," Walter said quickly.

Paige, who knew she couldn't argue with a man whose mind was already made up, couldn't help but smirk. "Fine, but on one condition, though."

Uh oh. "What?"

"You join me," she said in stride as she hooked her arms around his neck. "That's the only way you'll get what you want."

Walter visibly pressed his lips together and gulped. He had no clue what the hell he was signing up for, but he knew Paige. He _knew_ would onlyagree to use his bed if _he_ agreed to her terms, too. She was stubborn like that. They were _both_ stubborn like that. But _still_. As much as he _wanted_ (more than anything) to share a bed with the woman standing in front of him, there were rules. Boundaries. They were supposed to remain friends. _Be_ professional. Then again, professional colleagues don't typically make out either. (And they've done that _twice_ now.)

"Hey," Paige suddenly spoke, bringing the genius out of his thoughts. She cupped his cheeks and gently strummed her thumb over his lips. "We don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with." She paused, bit her lip, and added, "I just don't think you should be alone tonight…." She didn't elaborate. "And," she leaned in close and lightly kissed his lips, "I want to hear more stories of you and Megan."

Walter, unsure what to do or say, kept still and quiet.

Paige then gazed into his eyes as her hands traveled down to his palms and squeezed them. "Will you tell them to me?"

Slowly, a small smile found Walter's lips. "Okay."

 **~ SCORPION ~**

After the third or fourth story Walter had told Paige (he couldn't really remember how many he actually told her), Walter stared at their conjoined hands and muttered, "I, uh, I want you to see something."

"Okay," Paige whispered as she hugged him tightly. "What is it?"

"Wait here," Walter mumbled before climbing out of his bed and stumbling towards his computer on the other side of the loft. He unhooked his laptop and swiftly returned to Paige, careful not to wake up Ralph. He handed the woman his computer, crawled back into bed and casually draped his arm across her shoulders as he had been doing for the last two or three hours. He sat the laptop on top of both of their legs and pulled up the video his sister had Sylvester sent to him. "This was Megan's final goodbye…. There were things she said in this video that she didn't, um, didn't have time to finish saying them at the hospital."

"Walter," Paige placed her hand on top of his, "you don't have to show me this. It should stay private." She decided it was best he didn't know she already knew about the video.

"I want to show you," Walter said quickly before adding, "I _need_ to show you."

"Okay then," Paige lightly smiled.

After adjusting the volume of his computer, he instantly prompted the video to play. Paige pressed her cheek to Walter's shoulder as Megan's smiling face glowed on the screen. Megan's final farewell was absolutely beautiful, and her heart skipped a beat (or two) when Megan encouraged Walter to be himself and not to be afraid of falling in love. As Megan smiled and told Walter she loved him, Paige couldn't help but silently cry. When the video faded to black, Walter closed his computer, moved to the table beside his bed and turned towards Paige.

He was nearly hovering over her as he spoke. "Megan was the one person who knew me better than anybody. I could never hide anything from her, and more than once, she, uh," he nervously smiled, "she called me out on my feelings for you and, um, and she often encouraged me to act on them instead of suppressing them or hiding from them." He paused and curled his fingers over her hand. "But I was, um, I was too afraid to listen to her." He forced a chuckle. "And she knew it too."

Paige moved her misty eyes away from their conjoined hands and gazed into Walter's dark brown irises. She stayed silent and waited for him to continue.

"She says I'm not my brain…. I'm my heart...," Walter once more looked at their interlinked fingers and then found her eyes again. "Why… why do you think she would say that? The heart is just a circulatory muscle."

"You don't believe that, do you?" Paige brought their hands to her chest and bit her lip. "That the heart is just a circulatory muscle?"

"I," Walter paused and worded his response carefully, "It's the only reality I've really known."

"But that's not true," Paige mumbled as she caressed his cheek. "You _feel_ things, Walter. I know you do." She softly rubbed her thumb across his cheekbone and smiled, "because I feel them too." She waited for him to say something, but he didn't so she continued. "You don't feel your emotions in your mind. You feel them inside your chest…. In your heart."

He still did not say anything.

"Think of it this way," Paige squeezed his hand, "When we first kissed a few months ago, we stopped and realized it probably wasn't a good idea to be together despite our feelings. That was logic…. That was your brain. However," she threaded her fingers through the genius's hair and smiled, "when you kissed me today, it was much more passionate and much more intimate. Had Ralph not interrupted us, you and I could be down there making love right now instead of up here having this conversation. As illogical as it is for us… for coworkers… to be together, you can't tell me you didn't want it."

Walter pursed his lips and muttered, "I did want it…"

"But?"

"But I guess I was afraid… and was grateful when Ralph interrupted us when he did. Had we gone further, I wouldn't know what to do…. H-how to please you without fail." Walter was suddenly embarrassed and felt ashamed for his confession.

"And that's where logic falls short," Paige lightly laughed and then sweetly smiled. "Walter," she leaned up and gently kissed his lips, "There is no formula out there for love… romance… or for anything like that. Had we gone further," Paige kissed him again, "there would have been a lot less thinking and a lot more doing. Pun intended."

Walter furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't understand the pun."

"Never mind," Paige rolled her eyes and laughed. "Think of it this way, earlier, when you kissed me, did it feel wrong?"

"No," Walter shook his head. "It felt right…. It felt like…," he could feel heat radiating in his cheeks, "It felt like I was right where I belonged."

"And yet, you still thought we were being inappropriate."

"Correct."

"You see the difference? You see why your sister wanted you to be your heart and not your mind?" Paige bit her lip and impatiently waited for Walter's response as he contemplated things over.

Eventually, he said, "I think I do." He then smiled, "Megan wants me to be happy."

"What about you?" Paige asked, ever so hopeful. "Do you want to be happy?"

"God, yes," Walter said quickly before pulling her into a hard, passionate kiss. Paige, once again, was taken by surprise, but she quickly recovered as she threaded her fingers through his unruly hair and wrapped her legs around his hips. Almost instantly, Paige helped Walter peel off his shirt before stripping off her own. She wanted him badly, and she knew through the way he hungrily kissed her, that he wanted her just as badly, too. And as she reached back behind her to unhook her bra, Walter stopped kissing her and stared intently into her eyes. "There's something else," Walter whispered before kissing her again.

"What," Paige uttered against his lips as she proceeded to remove her bra. As soon as the material popped off her breasts, she flung the material away from them and cupped Walter's cheeks, prompting him to continue.

"Megan told me not to be afraid to love…."

"Mhmm?"

It took the man a moment to collect his thoughts as the woman taunted his neck with wet kisses, but eventually, he mumbled in a breathy voice, "I don't think I'm afraid anymore."

Paige suddenly stopped tantalizing his collarbone with her tongue and lips and looked at him in shock. He gulped, unsure if he had said the right thing. After seconds of processing Walter's confession, the woman finally smiled and kissed him hungrily. And then she brought her lips to his ear and whispered, "I love you too, Walter."

He never kissed her so passionately before.

 **~ SCORPION ~**

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 **WriterFreak001:**

Sorry for the late one-shot. I've been super busy, and though, usually, it takes me one sitting to write a fanfiction like this, I just didn't have the brain power to write it in a couple of hours! It took three days because of how tired I've been lately!

I hope you enjoyed it, and the next update I work on is "Kill Switch." Now that Black Friday weekend is almost over and that my online class is almost finished, I will have more time on my hands outside of work to work on FanFiction. (I think).

ANYWAY, I hope you've had a marvelous Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it), and please let me know what you think!


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